Content streaming, such as the streaming of audio, video, and/or text is becoming increasingly popular. The term “streaming” is typically used to indicate that the data representing the media is provided over a network to a client computer on an as-needed basis rather than being pre-delivered in its entirety before playback. Thus, the client computer renders streaming content as it is received from a network server, rather than waiting for an entire “file” to be delivered.
The widespread availability of streaming multimedia content enables a variety of informational content that was not previously available over the Internet or other computer networks. Live content is one significant example of such content. Using streaming multimedia, audio, video, or audio/visual coverage of noteworthy events can be broadcast over the Internet as the events unfold. Similarly, television and radio stations can transmit their live content over the Internet.
Current streaming technology, however, has its drawbacks. One such drawback is that there is typically a somewhat lengthy delay between the time that a playback of streaming media is requested and the time when the playback of the streaming media begins. Various communications are typically required between the client device where the playback of the media content will occur and the source of the media content. From the perspective of the user of the client device, such delays reduce the user-friendliness of the client device as well as the user-friendliness of the streaming process. Thus, it would be beneficial to reduce the delay between the time the user requests playback of streaming media and the time when the playback of the streaming media begins.